mostly sweet & a little bit spicy

prosecco

New Year’s Eve is just a few short days away, so I wanted to share this tasty cocktail. It’s one of those drinks that looks awesome, and feels classy but is super simple to make. If you’ve never had a kir royale, like me lol, it’s classically a french drink served as an apertif before meals (thanks Google!). It contains creme de cassis, which is a black currant liqueur and wine. More times than not, the wine is white and it is sparkling.

Photography by Allyson Regan

I wanted to put a slight twist on this classic French drink so we swapped out the creme de cassis for Chambord, which is a raspberry liqueur and topped it off with prosecco. I also added a squeeze of fresh lemon to balance out the sweetness.

The result? This perfectly pink drink, that’s slightly sweet and full of awesome berry flavor. Chambord really does taste like raspberries. You only need about a teaspoon of liqueur per glass and plenty of prosecco. The lemon really helps to bring out the true raspberry flavor. Garnish with a couple fresh raspberries and a thin lemon twist and you’ve got yourself a party-starter! Let’s add Drink more Prosecco to all of our New Year’s Resolutions, mkay?

Photography by Allyson Regan

Cheers and Happy New Year!

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It’s only Tuesday, but I can’t be the only one dreaming about the weekend. Brunch is a good idea year-round, but summer is almost begging us to invite our friends over, make some delicious food, and pop some bottles.

Photography by Allyson Regan

Now, I’m sure that if you’re reading this, you know how to make a good mimosa. Or you know how to drink good mimosas. But I have some tips and tricks for making a great mimosa bar, and a fantastic mimosa.

Photography by Allyson Regan

Now, most importantly, you will need decent bubbly. Choose from prosecco, Champagne, sparkling wine, or anything with actual bubbles and alcohol. My go-to is prosecco, especially since I tend to drink dryer wines. If you have buckets of cash lying around, empty them out and buy yourself some fancy Champagne from Champagne! My favorite brand of prosecco is Freixenet, however I also like the Belletti Brand shown below and both options are very affordable. Keep in mind that the juices will add sweetness and you don’t want the finished beverage to be too sweet.

Photography by Allyson Regan

Next, you’ll need fruit/mix-ins and juices. My go-to choices include fresh berries, pomegranate juice, grapefruit juice, and the classic orange juice. Fresh fruit is always a good choice, as is citrus segments. Think raspberries, blackberries, pomegranate seeds, strawberries, cranberries, currants, grapefruit, orange, blood orange. Now, you can go crazy with juices. I usually have orange juice, pomegranate juice, grapefruit juice, mango juice, pineapple juice and anything else you can think of juicing. The best part about parties with mimosa bars, is that everyone gets to make the exact drink they want, and they can also try new combinations!

Photography by Allyson Regan

Ratios are also very important when discussing mimosas. I generally stick to a 1:3 juice to bubbly ratio. My guests have never complained. Also, the order in which you add the items to the glass is important. You want to add the juice first, then when you add the bubbly, it will mix together nicely. If you add the fruit before the bubbly, it will cause an absurd amount of excess bubbles to form, so its better to garnish afterwards. You don’t want to run out of anything, so 3 juice options should be enough, and buy enough bubbly knowing that you will get about 6 mimosas per bottle.